Pope denounces attack on Pittsburgh synagogue

Monday, October 29th, 2018

Pope Francis has spoken out against an attack on a gathering at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Several people died in the attack.

Francis also expressed his “closeness” to the Jewish community and the people of that city, and prayed for all the victims and their relatives.

“May the Most High receive the dead in his peace, comfort their families and sustain the wounded,” he prayed before pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

“We are all, in reality, wounded by this inhuman act of violence.”

The attack left at least 11 adults dead, including two brothers and a husband and wife. In addition, six people were injured including four police officers.

The man who allegedly opened fire at the synagogue, Robert Bowers, is reportedly a frequent poster on Gab, a social network that has attracted many from the far-right fringe.

Bowers reportedly joined Gab at the beginning of this year, using it to post a series of anti-Semitic messages and redistribute messages from other users.

Immediately before he allegedly attacked the synagogue, Bowers wrote this about HIAS, a Jewish organisation that helps refugees:

“HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

The suspect, Robert Bowers, 46, is in custody and faces 29 criminal counts in what is thought to be the worst anti-Semitic attack in recent US history.

President Donald Trump has called the attack a “wicked act of mass murder.”

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